The Han Dynasty: Most Influential Dynasties In China's History

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Many historians claim that the Han Dynasty was one of the most influential dynasties in China’s history. The Han Dynasty brought economic growth and innovative inventions to Ancient China. How was the Han Dynasty so successful? What were the most impactful inventions of the Han Dynasty? This essay will answer these questions by investigating the impact the Han Dynasty not only left on China, but also the rest of the world. The Han Dynasty is divided into two sections; The Former Han, with the capital city of Ch’ang-an and the Later Han with its’ capital being Loyang. The Former Han lasted from 202 B.C.- 9 A.D., while the Later Han lasted from 23-220 A.D. The Han Dynasty began with the rise of Liu Pang. Liu Pang spent most of his time defending attacks from barbarian raids …show more content…
Implementing this policy led to the economic expansion and population growth. The Han Dynasty developed many important inventions including, paper, the sundial, the wheelbarrow, the stern-mounted steering rudder, and the seismograph. The papermaking process allowed for cheap and easy production of paper. Without the invention of paper, many ideas and discoveries would have been lost. This is because paper allowed people to record our thoughts and ideas with ease, compared to the old process of stone tablets. Papermaking was traced back to China when Cai Lun created a sheet using mulberry, fishnet, old rags and hemp waste. The creation of the sundial allowed for man to tell time based off of the positioning of the sun, and it stands as more than just a garden ornament: the sundial is the basis for the modern-day clock. Sundials had a rod in the middle that casted a shadow that would move as the sun moved across the sky, because sundials tell the solar time within each local area it was not a uniform